Is your equipment ready for winter? The only way to know for sure is to perform a pre-season, preventative maintenance check-up. Preventative maintenance costs very little in comparison to the time and expense of an unexpected (and easily preventable) breakdown.

The benefits of pre-season, preventative maintenance are easy to see. Designating a small amount of time before the season begins is always better than waiting until the storm hits. Nothing is worse than discovering in the middle of a storm that a small repair has become a major one. Now, you’re not only spending money for the repair, but you’re also missing out on jobs while your equipment is “in the shop.”

Or, your equipment could even fail in the middle of a job. For example, if you don’t check the reservoir of the hydraulic unit and remove any water that accumulated over the summer, it could freeze up and plug the inlet screen, starving the pump of oil. Then, instead of finishing the job and moving on to the next one, you’d be making repairs on something that could have easily been prevented.

Don’t learn the hard way. Designate a time to inspect, clean and replace worn parts, such as wear bars. Then check and replace fluids, like hydraulic oil – before the snow flies.

Here’s a basic preventative maintenance checklist to follow:

• Perform an overall inspection of the plow or spreader.
• Look for damaged or missing parts such as pins, bolts, wear bars and stands.
• Inspect and torque fasteners as needed on the truck mount, plow and spreaders.
• Check hydraulic fittings, hoses and seals.
• Look for fractures in steel and welds.
• Clean and apply touch-up paint to corroded areas.
• Perform an electrical inspection.
• Clean and inspect electrical cables and connections.
• Apply dielectric grease to cable connections.
• Check the lights on both the plow and the truck.
• Perform an inspection of the hydraulics.
• Verify that all plow functions are working properly.
• Change the hydraulic oil.
• Inspect rams for damaged seals and rods.
• Apply a light film of oil to rod surface.
• Perform a mechanical inspection.
• Inspect skid shoes and adjust to proper height.
• Inspect wear bar for uneven wear or damage.
• Apply general-purpose grease to pivot points and bearings.
• Adjust trip springs.
• Verify ballast for specific plow and vehicle application.
• Retain maintenance records in vehicle.

Of course, we are happy to help you with all of your maintenance requirements. Contact us and we’ll take care of getting your equipment ready for the big snow!